Date:         Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:31:37 -0500
Reply-To:     William Greenamyer <greenamyer@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         William Greenamyer <greenamyer@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Starter solenoid current

I have found out some very interesting things about the remote start (also
called low voltage) relay.  The contacts to this relay are in the solenoid
signal leg which goes directly to the battery but through a fuse.  It seems
that the current can almost blow the fuse and this causes it to become more
resistive, thus dropping more voltage.  This additional line resistance is
enough to keep the solenoid from fulling pulling in and thus the starter
gear does not engage the ring gear but the starter runs.  Cold or hot, the
van starts fine now.  Before, it only started properly when the van was hot
and I am guessing that the voltage on the battery was higher and more able
to provide lots of current versus a battery that is cold and not having the
same output levels.  Very interesting that the fuse could cause this problem
but that was the only component replaced in the system and everything is
fixed.  I went to a larger fuse now based on other comments on this subject
but thought others who might have a similar starting problem might look to
resistance in the solenoid drive signal for additional resistance caused by
the ignition switch or connections.

William